A spokesperson confirmed to TTG the line had made redundancies to its “US-based shoreside team”.

“When Virgin Voyages was founded nearly seven years ago, we never dreamed the world and our industry would be facing the type of challenges we all are today,” said the company in a statement on Wednesday (25 March).

“These are especially hard times for hospitality and travel. We have strong stakeholders who are completely behind us and supportive of Virgin Voyages, but there is a need to make some tough decisions in the interim.

“Our goal right now is to take care of our crew as much as we’re able to despite the global challenges, as Virgin has always been a people-first brand. Until we set sail in July, we wish health and wellbeing to all and we look forward to when we can travel together again.”

The line announced the postponement of its inaugural season earlier this month due to the coronavirus.

Its first ship, Scarlet Lady, is now set to launch in July having been showcased to the UK trade in Dover and Liverpool in February.